Am I eating enough? Hungry often.

mockchoc

Hi everyone, I'm a 46 yr old female. 5"2 and am on 1200 calories a day, set to loose 1lb a week and I eat back ALL my exercise calories. I do 30-45 minute brisk walks 7 days a week. No cardio yet.

My BMR is 1272 and my TDEE is 1526 when I put in sedentry (desk job). I'm 126lbs (56.8kgs) right now and want to loose only about 4 more kgs.. so that's about 116lbs.

I'm often hungry. I make sure I hit my calories and macros but have changed them around a few times because I'm not sure what will work best for me. I have it set at 40 carbs/30 fat/30 protien at the moment.

My loss is very slow which I guess is normal when close to goal weight although I think I've hit a plateau lateyl. I've been on MFP for 4 weeks and lost 4.5 lbs. Any thoughts? I'd really appeciate any imput.

Inrequia

Are you drinking enough water? Quite often we mistake thirst for hunger. If you're hungry outside of your normal meal or snack times, drink a glass or two of water and wait 10 minutes. If you're still hungry, grab an apple or something.. lots of fibre and vitamins to keep your body full and fueled.

mockchoc

Oh I should add that my diary is open if anyone would care to check it out. Also I lost the rest of my weight with Weight Watchers and have been doing it since April or early March this year.

postrockandcats

I looked at your food for today and you seem like you don't eat a lot of protein. Try getting more of that and see if that helps. If not, then you should reevaluate your caloric goals.

Also, ditto the water thing.

PS- if you walk daily, I'd say you aren't sedentary.

JenniTheVeggie

I am no expert BUT I will second the getting enough protein. Also I don't know what your 1200 calories consist of but make sure they are nutritious. I used to be constantly hunger but I eliminated the junk and empty useless calories.

jennmarieberry

I agree with postrockandca & vegetarianmom, increase your protein. I am also on a 1200 calorie per day diet and have been decreasing my carbs and increasing protein and it is really working for me. I can go several hours without feeling hungry now, when I used to feel hungry every couple of hours. I think it is okay if you eat back all your exercise calories, because you need them when you're exercising. The calorie deficit is already there as long as you only eat back what you've burned, and not more. Double ditto on the water.

downwithbottledwater

In my opinion your carbs are too high and your protein is too low.

I would try to bump your protein up to a minimum of 100 grams (more is better) and bring your carbs down to about 100 grams.

Protein will make you feel fuller for longer and most people lose more weight with fewer carbs.

Good luck!

mikeschratz

You are more than welcom to use the stuff in this folder to figure this out on your own. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

But you are eating below your BMR, that is not healthy. The instructions on how to lose weight are here:

https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B3kFzsaVmRjmd1k4YjA1SlVWaFU/edit

It takes us all some time to learn, and asking the question is the way to get the answers. I trusted the folks that were successful at this and it starting working for me. Good luck.

gibsy

Wait a sec, you've been at this 4 weeks and have lost 4.5 pounds? THAT'S EXCELLENT. That doesn't sound like a plateau.

If you do feel hungry, as others have said protein will help you feel fuller. So will fiber. You can eat more food volume wise if you eat a lot of vegetables, and just that bulk of food will help with the appetite, so aim for lots of fresh veggies and lean protein and take it easy on refined flours and sugars and that should help.

But really, 4.5 lbs in 4 weeks I'd say you're doing just fine.

nxd10

More protein, fewer carbs really will keep you less hungry.

I also have two or three cashews or other nuts every single time I feel hungry and within 5 minutes it goes away. I'm sure this is not what is actually happening, but it feels like I am teaching my body that when it tells me it is hungry it will be taken care of.

In any case, I am rarely hungry now.

mockchoc

Are you drinking enough water? Quite often we mistake thirst for hunger. If you're hungry outside of your normal meal or snack times, drink a glass or two of water and wait 10 minutes. If you're still hungry, grab an apple or something.. lots of fibre and vitamins to keep your body full and fueled.

Yes I do drink over 8 glasses of water a day easily so stopped tracking it but will remember to try the apple.

mockchoc

I looked at your food for today and you seem like you don't eat a lot of protein. Try getting more of that and see if that helps. If not, then you should reevaluate your caloric goals.

Also, ditto the water thing.

PS- if you walk daily, I'd say you aren't sedentary.

I will try uping the protein again.

mockchoc

In my opinion your carbs are too high and your protein is too low.

I would try to bump your protein up to a minimum of 100 grams (more is better) and bring your carbs down to about 100 grams.

Protein will make you feel fuller for longer and most people lose more weight with fewer carbs.

Good luck!

Thanks! I have just changed them now so I'll see how I go.

mockchoc

You are more than welcom to use the stuff in this folder to figure this out on your own. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

But you are eating below your BMR, that is not healthy. The instructions on how to lose weight are here:

https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B3kFzsaVmRjmd1k4YjA1SlVWaFU/edit

It takes us all some time to learn, and asking the question is the way to get the answers. I trusted the folks that were successful at this and it starting working for me. Good luck.

According to your link my BMR is 1244 and TDEE is 1493. So I should be eating 200 above the 1244 BMR? So 1444 plus any exercise calories I do each day??? If I eat 1444 then I am only eating around 50 calories less than my TDEE! Would that be enough to keep losing?

Also my goal weight is 116 (I think at this stage) so 116 protein ?

Thanks heaps

postrockandcats

You are more than welcom to use the stuff in this folder to figure this out on your own. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

But you are eating below your BMR, that is not healthy. The instructions on how to lose weight are here:

https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B3kFzsaVmRjmd1k4YjA1SlVWaFU/edit

It takes us all some time to learn, and asking the question is the way to get the answers. I trusted the folks that were successful at this and it starting working for me. Good luck.

According to your link my BMR is 1244 and TDEE is 1493. So I should be eating 200 above the 1244 BMR? So 1444 plus any exercise calories I do each day??? If I eat 1444 then I am only eating around 50 calories less than my TDEE! Would that be enough to keep losing?

Also my goal weight is 116 (I think at this stage) so 116 protein ?

Thanks heaps

If you're walking every day, then the sedentary activity level isn't right for you. Your TDEE is probably more that that 1500, honestly. Bump it up to the next level up and see how you feel.

If you're unsure of how much you move, maybe getting something like a Fitbit or another kind of activity tracker would be a good thing for you. They aren't accurate down to the calorie, but they are nice in that it lets you see how much you really do daily. It was a great decision for me.